US President Donald Trump predicted Wednesday that the war with Iran would conclude "very soon," while praising American military operations against the Islamic Republic and reaffirming his commitment to preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Addressing supporters at a campaign rally in South Carolina ahead of the November midterm elections, Trump highlighted his administration's actions against Iran, beginning with his decision to withdraw the United States from the nuclear agreement negotiated under former President Barack Obama.
Trump described the agreement as "a road to a nuclear weapon for Iran. I terminated it. That was a road to a nuclear weapon."
He then pointed to the American military campaigns against Iran, claiming that they had severely damaged the country's nuclear capabilities and weakened it on several fronts.
"We obliterated Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer, a beautiful operation, and Operation Epic Fury. And we defeated them militarily, financially, and otherwise," Trump declared.
"And now we're ensuring that, and as you know, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Should have been done years ago," the President added.
He stated that if Iran had acquired a nuclear weapon, “we would be a tinderbox. Our lives would be very different, because they (the Iranians -ed.) are nuts. [But] they don't play games with me."
Trump also expressed confidence that the conflict was approaching its conclusion, although he suggested that Washington wanted to ensure its achievements would endure before ending military operations.
The war, he stated, will "end very soon. We could leave now, but we want to make sure it lasts for a long time. Now, if you look at that, it's amazing what we did. Our military is unbelievable."
Earlier Wednesday, Trump defended his administration's decision to launch the war against Iran, describing the campaign as one of his presidency's most important accomplishments.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he credited the military operations with preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"I think it's one of the greatest things we've done. We've stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon. It's one of the best things that we've done," Trump said.
The President argued that his predecessors had been unwilling to take comparable action and claimed that Iran would already have deployed nuclear weapons had he not intervened.
"It took a lot of courage to do it because no other president was willing to do it. And if we didn't do it, Iran would right now have already used massive nuclear weapons."
His remarks followed comments Tuesday indicating that the administration was approaching a decision on whether additional military strikes would be necessary to bring the confrontation to a successful conclusion.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump suggested that Washington had several options for achieving its objectives.
“We just have to make a final decision. Which way do we want to win? Do we want to win the nice way or the not nice way?" he said.
Trump's statements came as The New York Times reported Wednesday that American and Israeli military officials had developed detailed plans for another round of attacks against Iran.
According to the report, a renewed operation could begin after the November 3 US midterm elections, although Trump has not approved such a campaign.
The planning reportedly reflects ongoing discussions within the administration about how to conclude the conflict while ensuring that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons.
Asked about the report, a White House official declined to confirm whether additional military action was being prepared, saying the administration does not comment on military plans “that may or may not exist."
The official emphasized that Trump continues to keep all options available as Washington seeks to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.